User Reviews

To see a regular TV sit com that is actually funny is rare. This show is the rarity. Cristela Alonzo has a quick wit and she's clever - a rare combination with television today.

There are plenty of not-so-positive Mexican jokes packed into the show; Cristela turns the negative to positive with her quick retorts. Her mother, who immigrated from Mexico, always plays the downer, nagging at Cristela for pursuing her dreams. But both Cristela and her sister make light of their mother's negativity by humorously playing off it.

I've only seen one episode of Cristela, but I intend on becoming a regular viewer. It's refreshing to find intelligent, funny television on a non-pay channel.

I loved the pilot. It was smart, funny, honest, and self-deprecating in places. I hope it stays this way in future episodes. As a first generation American, I could relate to many of the sentiments expressed by the characters. They expressed them in humorous ways. I am not a Mexican American, but I feel I will understand them better and feel we can relate to each other. The interplay between family members was very real, and can relay to any family, regardless of ethnicity. That too was done in a very funny way. I am anxiously waiting for Cristela's progress in pursuing her legal career. I am sure it will be hilarious, I can see many potential funny developments.

With ABC really trying to show diversity means more than having different colored faces, and a random homosexual here or there, comes Cristela. A show which deals with various aspects of both Mexican and Texas culture. Whether it is Cristela's mom being from a small village and immigrating to America; gender norms; racism in the modern day; or various other topics; Cristela is much more than another young woman in pursuit of a dream. No, she is a Brown girl who is proud of her heritage, and is looking to not have said heritage be something which holds her back, but be part of what makes her flourish.

Characters & Story

When we meet Cristela (Cristela Alonzo) it seems she and sister Daniela (Maria Canals Barrera) are living under their mother Natalia's (Terri Hoyos) roof. Truth is however, they are living in Daniela's husband's house and because Natalia is unable to live by herself, and because Cristela doesn't have a job, they both live with him and his family. Which, as you can imagine, causes issues. But with Natalia not sticking her nose in Felix's (Carlos Ponce) business, but Cristela often butting heads with her brother-in-law, pretty much Cristela is the sole one who has any issue with the living arrangement. To the point that often Daniela has to defend her because of the things she says and does. But, despite Cristela's antics, at the end of the day they all are family and, while it has been 6 years in the making, they all support Cristela's dreams to become a lawyer, in their own unique ways.

Praise

I don't want to say this show is refreshing, but at the same time it is hard to deny how interesting this show is because Cristela, and her family, don't treat being Mexican as something to be swept under the rug nor treat it as the elephant in the room. Ceistela's culture, and heritage, is on full display by Spanish be spoken throughout the episode; her mother Natalia speaking about the life she had before immigrating; and with the general sense that we are going to get a less heavy-handed approach than Black-Ish when it comes to Cristela's culture, it is hard to not want to learn as much as Cristela, and her family, is willing to give.

Especially when it comes to the issues presented in the pilot. Take for example her niece Isabella wanting to do soccer over cheer-leading and this causing issues due to gender norms, or the situation at Cristela's job where racism is so casually thrown around it is flabbergasting. Which I honestly liked seeing for how often are these problems, both inside the home and outside, are addressed? I mean, Switched at Birth touches on similar topics to a point, but it barely has gone into Regina's culture, so seeing Cristela make a full dive is exciting.

Criticism

One thing which maybe an issue for the show is its use of racism, stereotypes, and prejudice for jokes. For while some of the things said are funny, I must admit I am worried about a joke one day going too far. Especially since the jokes are not just between Cristela and members of her family, but also by Trent (Sam McMurray) and Maddie Culpepper (Justine Lupe) who are two white Texans. And just to give you an idea of the jokes done: there is not only the maid joke we saw in the trailer, but Trent talks about calling immigration on Cristela if she doesn't do a good job, instead of simply firing her. Which I believe was a joke, but I can imagine those who are a bit more sensitive to jokes dealing with race/ ethnic backgrounds being a bit uncomfortable.

Other than that, I wished they included subtitles for when the casts speaks Spanish. For while it isn't done for a long period of time on the show, perhaps just a sentence or two, still I would like to know what is being said.

Overall: Watch It

What I like about this series, in comparison to Black-Ish, is that it is less in your face about the culture presented. Simply put, Cristela and her family are Mexican and they are presenting just some ways Mexican people act and what they deal with. Whether it is the mom's constant guilt over how easy she made life for her kids, the issues of gender norms within the Brown community [1], or what Cristela deals with at work, yes maybe the personalities are exaggerated to a point, but something about this show still feels very authentic. Hence the Watch It label for it is funny, has many touching moments throughout the pilot, and Cristela really does present herself as not just the girl you generally want to root for, but someone who I think presents another case for why representation matters. For really, what other actress do you see that looks, acts, and has the same background as her?

Even before I press play and watch the pilot of this I was pretty sure on what to expect! There will be a Kitchen (check), a witty protagonist (check) that might have the same name with the titular character (double check), a grumpy and unsupportive mother or mother in law (check), kids ready to go to school (check) and prerecorded loud laughs to hurt your ears right from the first second (check).

So it is the standard formula for a situation comedy.

The question now is, is it worth watching or in other words, is it any different than the others? The answer for me is..hmm..No! Not by much...

...You see this is (another) sitcom that tries to exploit racism (for one) and stereotypes as a source for jokes. Well, sorry, we've seen lots of those too. Blacks, Asians, gays...you name it. Here it is about being Mexican trying to succeed on U.S. soil.

Never saw or heard before for Cristela Alonzo. She's OK I guess but not enough to win a big audience, especially if, like me, don't know much about Mexican culture or ...Tony Romo, whom I googled just now for writing this review.

Overall. This is a standard sitcom that could have more appeal to certain people than others. It is Cristela's project, but from what I saw, is far inferior in comparison with another personal project:.. Mindy's!! that it is more fresh and funny and interesting and spare us from the fake laugh track.

Cristela (Cristela Alonzo) is a struggling law student desperate to land an unpaid internship for Trent. The other interns are Josh and the boss' daughter Maddie. She's living with her sister Daniela and her family. Her brother-in-law Felix wants to get her out of the house. Her mother is also living in the house dismissing her dreams. Then there is Alberto (Gabriel Iglesias) who works for Felix and has a thing for Cristela.

This is basically a traditional network sitcom. Personally, I like Cristela Alonzo and that's half the battle. The rest is simple family sitcom and a workplace sitcom. There is a splash of Latino flavor but it's a cartoon version. I have no problem with not being original. Not every show has to recreate the wheel.

"Cristela" is a poorly researched litany of old stereotypes: Latino men don't respect women, Latino women defer to their husbands, people won't accept a Latino as a lawyers, the head of a law firm is a greedy white male who cares only about money but will give his kid a pass on everything...

Need I go on? For a show where a woman works as an intern at a law firm, the producers don't realize that private companies must PAY interns ("for profit" entities cannot have "free" labor -- that would violate the laws of the US.

The show is a disconnect from reality. It should have been set in the 1970s or 1980s not the 21st Century.

The title says it all. This show does deserve an Emmy, a Golden Globe, or any other award. People may think that this is one of those "classic" formats, but it's a more modern and fresh approach to that. While John Mulaney's show flopped (and that is weird, because it was just as good), Cristela has had some moderate success with audiences.

The show is hilarious, and I mean as funny as Lucy. Cristela's mother is the usual "Negative Nancy," who usually has something to complain about or compare it to her childhood village in Mexico (always using "In my village..."). Cristela and her co-worker, Josh, are obviously into each other from the pilot, and it's torture to see them not admit it! They are friends, but they like to tease and compete against each other frequently.

It's hilarious. I feel like I am going back to the times when I watched George Lopez. Favorite character though is Gabriel Iglesias... Best comedian ever so I had to watch it because of him. Ended up loving it, I can't miss an episode. Although, I think he should be on more often. The episode of equal pay is my favorite. When he started making fun of Carlos Ponce. I made my dad watch it now he's into it as well. I can relate to it because I am Mexican, so when watching it I am like, me too. ha ha ha I recommend everyone to watch it. If you don't, you're missing out. If it gets removed, I will cry. So go and watch it every Friday at 8:30pm on ABC.

OMG we needed a show like this..... Carlos is hot,,, I also love Maria Canals-Barrera, she is a true Mexican with Carlos. when i see Gabriel Iglesias i just laugh he is a great comedian.. good luck on the show... Go Cowboys!!! I'm from Dallas Texas It will be nice if they show Dallas in the show . . . . . . . . . . The clothes on Carlos are hot he looks so good@ I will only be watching the show for him and Maria canals I'm just waiting for George Lopez to appear that would be awesome... I just don't really like that Criselda is still living at home. Mexican parents usually kick kids out at 18 with a career or send them back to Mexico. that is not really true what you are showing.

This is one of the better new sitcoms that made a change for the worse tonight. I really enjoy the family moments the best. The one liners are witty and humorous. Cristela is a welcome new face to evening entertainment and the mother and sister add a truly fun touch to the entire show. The addition of Rosanne was a tremendous mistake. The want to be comedian took all of the comedy out of tonight's show. I hope this was a one time appearance so the show can resume its roll as a good evening sitcom. I have had my DVR set to record it in the event I wasn't available to watch it but if Rosanne is a continuing cast member I will stop watching all together.

I thought this might be a bit like "The Mindy Project", which I find (mostly) charming and amusing because it is character-driven humour. Cristela, alas, is stereotype-driven humour, which is to say, it is humourless.

The laugh-track (or audience, not sure which) is annoying (let me be the judge of what is funny), stealing jokes from Winston Churchill (yes, really), and some not-so-great acting made me switch off half-way through.

Personally, I am just not a fan of sexism, racism and fat-jokes. Every character here is a stereotype, from the blonde bimbo boss's daughter to the creepy boyfriend wannabe.

Okay this is a decently funny series so far. Cristela gets the gig here from her standup routines. Gabriel Inglesias appears in a supporting role as a fluffy man who is hot Cristela but she does not reciprocate. Christela is living with her sister and her husband and the sisters mommy. The husband does not want her there and makes it abundantly clear with some funny comments. Mommy is putting pressure on Cristela to date. There is a budding relationship between Cristela and another intern. They seem to be gradually realizing they have the same interests and goals. I expect this relationship to develop if the series continues. Since the other intern is a white guy I expect a lot of what is wrong with a Latino jokes. So far I will keep watching this show. Added: 12/13/14: I have now watched several episodes and find it pretty funny. Yes it is ethnic, clichéd, stereotypical, etc. but I still think it is funny as heck.

The show's funny but at times feels totes inappropriate. After the first episode it seems to calm down a little bit but every now and then my jaw drops. I mean the stereotypes are funny to a degree but after a while it's too over the top. For the most part it feels relatable though.

The one thing that really bugs me is the way they have tried to turn Cristela into some moral goddess whose oozing substance. Reading books and not liking material things does not make you a better person. In fact she progressively judges everyone for not being as great as herself. I don't really need to be preached at in a 20min comedy each week.

It's by no means a terrible show but it's nothing new and the episodes are hit and miss. It's really a Sunday afternoon comedy and they did the right thing by only having one season. Fine while it lasted, but not a necessary show.

I was really loving this sitcom until Roseanne started appearing. Hadn't enjoyed one this much since Friends & Raymond but now you've ruined it with hiring Roseanne. I refuse to watch anything with her on it! Please fire her & I'll be glad to start watching again. I am really hoping it wasn't going to get cancelled but I felt like it was probably going to be & was right!

For a show that is written by her, Cristela should have written funnier stuff for herself, but unfortunately, even tho I found her somewhat funny when I saw her BEFORE I saw her sitcom, I didn't find her hardly funny at all IN her show! The parts in the actual lawyers office are just painful to watch, and NOT because of the stereotypes, but because none of it is even remotely funny except for the part of the one episode where Felix and Alberto put in Trent's floor! Since most of the stuff on TV is crap these days, and I'm SO tired of vampires, the supernatural, and those kind of shows and am frustrated with how little comedy there is that doesn't rely on swearing and sex and shock factor, there isn't a lot left to watch!! I started watching this show back in 2014 but didn't see every episode when it was on TV and just now found it on Netflix so I am watching the ones I missed. I am only giving it a go again because I LOVE Gabriel and the scenes with the mom and the ones at the house are somewhat amusing and it is something to pass the time when I've already watched most of the stuff that is decent to watch and keeps my attention. I've seen the post that she blogged after she got canceled and it amazes me how much she didn't realize that people would not find all the stereotypes that she droned into EVERY second of EVERY scene that funny in this day and age! The show could have been way funnier given SOME of the actors in it, but Josh is extremely unfunny, the Maddie stereotype has just been done SO many times that it is just tiresome to watch as is the whole Trent character! But like I said, there is SO much $&@# on TV that I don't want to fill my head with that I'm relegated to watching half funny shows just to get away from overt sex, over-the-top swearing and the WAY overdone supernatural *^%#! Cristela didn't seem to realize that she couldn't take her one hour stand up routine and stretch it into a sitcom because the stereotypes would get old super fast plus she isn't funny enough for her material to keep people laughing or interested for very many shows! I'm shocked that it even lasted a whole season tho I never could find it on after the first half dozen shows or so so I'm not even sure how many were even broadcast on ABC (I think it was) back in 2014/2015!! Will somebody out there PLEASE make some decent comedy shows again with ACTUALLY funny people in them!! Where are the Carol Burnetts and Tim Conways of this generation hiding?!? Can anybody put the comedy back into sitcoms?!?